Penny, Barbara, Ruth, Irene by Amy Grote
![Image is an aerial/overhead shot of trucks parked in a lot in the snow at nighttime; title card for 2022 Amelia Gray 2K Contest winner "Penny, Barbara, Ruth, Irene" by Amy Grote.](https://craftliterary.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/marcin-jozwiak-gfcfPQA6lVI-unsplash-300x200.jpg)
After three gin martinis, my mother-in-law spits out her teeth. “You’re a cannonball with a credit card,” she hisses. Her dentures glisten like pearls in her palm. Never, she likes to remind me, did she foresee her sweet son…